From a guy who knew Leon for about 20+ years I can tell you this much: The only amp he gave a damn about was an SVT. It doesn't really matter. I've heard him through probably a half a dozen different amps (including a few of my own) and more basses than I can count (including a few of my own) He always sounded like Leon no matter what he used. He was probably one the least gear concious bass players I ever met. He'd play anything...he'd buy anything...and he liked it all. The last bass he owned was an old, white Peavey Dyna bass with an EMG treble boost circuit he reffered to as his "Magic tone knob". He loved that bass. The action was so high on the thing I couldn't even deal with it but it worked fine for him.
BT, was Leon mostly a 4-banger player? My band is starting to cover their tunes, so I'm teaching his basslines to my friend who is doing the bass honors for our band. I'm playing Hammond, piano and horn synths... Those bass lines are very clean 'n tasty.
props to Leon - I was never that crazy about his tone, but I love his playing. my current band is doing "I Know A Little". I absolutely LOVE that bass line - one of my all-time favorites. and even on a song that's (potentially) as mundane as Gimme Three Steps, his bassline is fun to play. He's missed.
Leon is missed here too! RIP Leon. I love every bassline he ever played and work to learn every one of them. Not an easy task for me. tk
yeah, but I guess the main point by bikertrash82, is that to LW, it didn't matter much. But didn't he (and the rest of the band) use Peavey's a lot?